Nightmares of the Heart
by Lucious Coulter
Summary: Akane is abducted AGAIN, by a mysterious dark Emperor. Now Ranma must travel to the land of dreams to rescue her. Alone.
1. Prolouge

A Ranma ½ Fanfic: Nightmares of the Heart.

Written by Lucious Coulter.

Ranma ½ does not belong to me, but Rumiko Takahashi. Oh well…

A/N. I have been wanting to write this story for a long time, but just never got the chance. I hope you enjoy it. If you like it or hate it, e-mail me at to tell me what you think. Thanks.

Prologue: Omens

It was a beautiful day in Nerima Tokyo. That is, if you ignore the screaming teenager flying across the sky due to an incident with an infamous mallet. Akane stood on the sidewalk, an angry look on her face. 'That jerk!' She fumed. 'Why does he always insult me! Like it's my fault for making us late! If he didn't fool around with that Chinese hussy all the time, we actually might make it to class for once!' She stomped through the gates of Furinkan High, punching Kuno as he once again proclaimed his undying love for Akane Tendo. She sighed inwardly. 'All we ever do anymore is fight. I'm beginning to wonder if Ranma really meant those things he said on Mt. Phoenix or not.' She walked on, and then paused when a shiver went across her body. 'What was that?' She wondered. The feeling left a deep chill inside her. She glanced around but saw nothing. 'I'm probably just cold.' She thought uneasily. She decided to forget about it for the time being and make her way to class. She didn't know why, but she for some reason wanted to have Ranma nearby. 'Ranma where are you?'

"Man! What's her deal anyways! Like it's my fault that Shampoo keeps stalking me! Tomboy!" Ranma continued his ranting as he flew through the air, before smashing through the roof of an unfortunate Dr. Tofu.

"Good morning Ranma." Said the doctor in his usual calm state.

"Sorry, school, gotta go, bye!" Ranma flew through the doors and made his way to the school. He pondered about the morning incidents. Even after Jusendo and the failed wedding, him and Akane seemed to go nowhere in their relationship. 'Doesn't she realize that I don't mean half of the things I say? Oh Akane…' He paused as a shiver went across his body. His martial art sense went out as he felt the familiar feeling of foreboding. 'Something's coming. Something…bad.' He thought. He cautiously went into school, deciding to stay close to Akane the rest of the day. He didn't like this feeling of dread.

A being sat on one of the houses. Robed in black and purple, he radiated a powerful aura. He smirked at the antics of the two teenagers.

"Never before have I experienced a bond this strong, yet so feeble as well. It seems that one wrong word from either of them will destroy their already pitiful relationship forever. This aught to be amusing indeed." His violet eyes glowed with malice as he smiled.

"The female posses a power that even she does not understand. I shall enjoy taking it from her." He snickered, and then disappeared.


	2. Abduction

A Ranma ½ Fanfic: Nightmares of the Heart.

Written by Lucious Coulter.

Ranma ½ does not belong to me, but Rumiko Takahashi. Oh well…

Chapter 1: Abduction.

Ranma and Akane slowly walked home from school. Each thinking along the same lines. 'What is this cold feeling?' Ranma hopped down from the fence to walk beside Akane, his eyes scanning the area, looking for anything to explain it. Akane didn't mind him beside her. In fact it made her a bit calmer. 'Ranma will protect me. I mean, he always does. Wait a minute, I don't need his help! I can take care of myself! Still, this feeling…' She moved a bit closer to Ranma as the feeling grew worse. All of a sudden, Ranma stopped and gently grabbed her arm.

"What is it?" She asked nervously. Ranma didn't answer. His eyes were sweeping the entire area. Suddenly Akane noticed just how quiet it was. There were no sounds of cars, people or even insects or birds. There was total silence.

"What's happening?"

She asked in a whisper that sounded like a shout in the empty air.

"I don't know." He said in a nervous voice. Her feeling grew worse. 'Ranma's nervous? Things are worse than I thought.' She said to herself. Then his eyes abruptly snapped up. She looked too and gasped. They sky was a whirling mass of purple and black clouds. Then a vortex of the vapors swirled in the air and descended to the ground. Out of them came a boy. He was floating in the air above them as if he was in a lounge chair. He was robed in black and sashes of purple. His hands were in black gloves and his spider like fingers were crossed in his lap. His face and hair were as pale as the snow, and his serpent like eyes glowed violet. Both Ranma and Akane flinched as his freezing aura enveloped them

"Who are you and what do you want!" Ranma yelled at the boy. He pushed Akane behind him as he glared at the being. For some reason, this entity filled him with the feeling of dread and fear. The boy smirked at him and replied in a cool velvety voice,

"My my. Where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Emperor. The lord and God of the Land of Dreams, Nyxalia. You are Ranma Saotome, and you are Akane Tendo. Now as for what I want, I want you to hand Miss Tendo over to me, little man." His eyes glowed with amusement as he saw Ranma's face contort in rage.

"Well you're going to have to get through me first!" He yelled shielding Akane behind his back. The Emperor chuckled.

"As if you could stop me child. But if you insist, I will have to reprimand you." He then raised his hand and pointed two fingers at Ranma.

Ranma collapsed as images ran through his head, horrible images. There was the Tendo home completely destroyed. Kasumi in the kitchen, burnt to death in the oven, Nabiki in her room, ripped into pieces, Soun with a katana through his head, Genma floating in the pond, and Akane screaming for him to help her, but he couldn't move. He reached out to her to try to save her from whatever was hunting her, Her screams were joined by others and others until his whole head was full of nothing but screaming and pain. Then he came out of it. He was on the ground and his face was covered in tears. He looked up to see the Emperor carrying an unconscious Akane by the neck. The Emperor looked at him and smiled an amused smile.

"If you want your precious little fiancée back, come to my palace of dreams. There we will see if you are truly worthy to have her. No one else shall come with you. If they do, Miss Tendo will die. Use this to come when you feel you are ready." He threw a black jewel at Ranma. He caught it and looked back at the Emperor.

"Why?" Ranma choked out.

"Why do you want her so bad?" The God smirked at him as he began to fade out.

"That is none of your concern at the moment. The ancient power of the Earth will soon be mine. I fully expect you to entertain me with your child like ideals of affection. I don't expect to be disappointed. Until then, little man…" his voice echoed as he faded from view. The clouds swirled away and the noise and warmth of the everyday world came back in a rush. Ranma looked at the spot where they disappeared, then where Akane had been. He clenched his fists as he started to cry tears of self-loathing, hatred and loss. 'I will get her back!' He thought furiously. 'She is my fiancée and no one will take her from me. Human or God.' He gripped the black jewel and started home. He would rest and then would travel to Nyxalia. 'And may Kami have mercy to whoever gets in my way!'


	3. Preparations to Leave

A Ranma ½ Fanfic: Nightmares of the Heart.

Written by Lucious Coulter.

Ranma ½ does not belong to me, but Rumiko Takahashi. Oh well…

Chapter 2: Preparations to leave.

"So let me get this straight." Nabiki said with her normal bored look on her face.

"Some dark Emperor came from dream land to abduct Akane, and now you have to travel to this place in order to rescue her from certain doom." Even as she looked at him skeptically, Ranma knew how ridiculous this whole thing sounded.

"I don't care if you don't believe me, but I need your help to keep everyone from finding out about this or they'll want to come and I'll have more problems to deal with than I would going alone." He glared back at her stubbornly as she stared at him from her chair. He had come straight to Nabiki after the incident to get her to help him. But of course she had to do her daily game of 'Make the fool out of Ranma.' She then sighed and turned to her desk to pick up the strange black jewel that Ranma had been given.

"Don't worry Ranma. I do believe you. This is after all Nerima. I was just thinking it was about time we had another big problem on our hands." She looked closely at the jewel.

"I do believe this is a type of black diamond." She tapped a few keys on her computer.

"It is. It says here that they were used in ancient rituals to appease the dark gods." She glared at nothing.

"Figures." She said. She then threw the stone at Ranma, who caught it reflexively.

"Hurry and get ready Ranma. You have a fiancé to save. And don't worry about everyone else. I'll make sure that they are…" She then got her traditional evil look on her face.

"Dealt with." She then pushed him out and shut the door. He stared at it for a minute then headed downstairs. 'Women' He thought. 'I'll never understand them.'

Ranma went into the back yard, well fed by Kasumi and their fathers cowering from Nodaka. Nodaka smiled at him.

"Take care dear! And don't worry. I have everything under control here." She whipped out her katana and pointed it at the two trembling men.

"I won't have any trouble from you two now will I?" They frantically shook their heads no and fled the room in a dust cloud. Nodaka smiled and sat at the table.

"I think I'm going to enjoy staying here for a while." She said smugly. Ranma chuckled and waved goodbye to both his mother and 'future' sister in law. He took out the black stone, wondering what to do with it, when it suddenly started to pulse. It seemed to grow in his hand until he was swirling around inside it. He kept on spinning and was just about to be sick when his feet hit solid ground and he fell over. He stayed there for a couple of minutes to catch his breath, and then stood up. He was in a dark and silent forest. He noticed a piece of paper on the ground and picked it up to read. 'Welcome Ranma Saotome. Welcome to the realm of Nyxalia. You will need to travel through several places in order to get to my palace. The first area you are in now is The Forest of Silence. Have fun…' The paper was then burned up by a black flame.


	4. The Forest Of Silence

A Ranma ½ Fanfic: Nightmares of the Heart.

Written by Lucious Coulter.

Ranma ½ does not belong to me, but Rumiko Takahashi. Oh well…

A.N: Just to let you know that Mt. Phoenix is where the final battle between Ranma and the God Saffron takes place. That being said, let's continue.

Chapter 3: The Forest Of Silence.

Ranma stared at the place where the note had been before taking a look at his surroundings. The sky was a gray color and seemed to blend in with the greenish-gray foliage of the plants. There was total silence. His breathing sounded like it was a loud fan in comparison. There were fuzzy particles in the air, and when he smelled them, he was reminded of the feeling of being lost in the woods and freezing and starving. 'Man. This is too creepy.' He thought nervously. The cold feeling was everywhere. In his skin, his mind, and his heart. He then remembered the trouble Akane was in and set out at a fast jog along the narrow trail. He then noticed as he was running that the tree branches were moving, but making no sound. He stopped and surveyed the area. 'I wonder…' He then picked up two pebbles on the ground and smacked them together. They made a loud cracking noise as they split. He then took the remnants and threw them at a tree. They made no sound whatsoever. 'I see now. The only thing that can make sound in this place is me. That means someone could creep up and I…wouldn't…even…..know….it………' He ceased all rational thought as a hard blow to the back of his head sent him unconscious.

Meanwhile, in the palace of the Emperor, Akane was still unconscious. She was encased in a black crystal all the way up to her neck. A middle aged man appeared at her side. He was about six feet tall with a black mustache and dark hair. He wore a dark blue robe and one half of his face was bathed in shadows. He went to her face and put two fingers on her eyelids. She stirred from her sleep, mumbling incomprehensible words.

"Ah you finally wake." The man said in a warm voice.

"Hold still and try not to move. You'll just make the nausea worse." Sure enough her face turned green as she fought to keep down what was left in her stomach.

"You've had quite an experience young lady, and I will be happy to answer as many questions as I can. At least once you stop ruining the floor." He said with a good natured chuckle as she lost her battle with the nausea. The man immediately snapped his fingers and the mess disappeared. Akane then focused her eyes on the smiling man.

"Who are you?" She mumbled. He looked surprised for a moment then laughed again.

"Well, that might be a good start. My name is Orion. I am here to make sure you are protected and that you can not escape." He continued smiling as if this sort of thing was said all the time. Akane's eyes narrowed at his words. She glared at him and said a little more forcefully,

"And where would I try to be escaping from?" He continued to smile as he said,

"Why the Emperors palace of course. This is the land of dreams, Nyxalia." He then paused as if listening to something, then gave her a short bow.

"If you'll excuse me there is a matter of business I must attend to. I shall explain more later." And with that he disappeared. She stared at where he had been, and then looked around. She appeared to be in a dungeon like room. It was completely dark except for a bunch of torches that burned blue and purple light. Their light just made her seem colder than she already was. She struggled to move her body at all, but the crystal held tight. She fought the urge to scream, as that would probably serve to amuse that stupid 'Emperor.' 'Who does he think he is! Kidnapping me like this! Once Ranma gets me out of here, I'll kick his royal ass!' She blinked for a moment. 'Why did I think of Ranma like that all of a sudden? I don't need him! I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself! I…I…' She slumped in defeat and hung her head as she whispered the five words no one thought would ever hear from her mouth.

"Ranma I need your help…"

Ranma groaned as he tried to stand up. A pounding was going through his head and he wished it would stop. In fact the pounding was through his whole body. He stood up, and gaped at what he saw. He was in a large clearing in the woods, and little creatures were pounding on drums. They were horribly ugly things. About four feet tall with wood for skin and moss for hair. They were chanting some sort of song. He then noticed that there was an abnormally big blob in the middle of the clearing. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was a huge plant bud. He then understood what the creatures were saying. It wasn't a song but a name.

"Sectrum Mantra! Sectrum Mantra! Sectrum Mantra!" They then stopped suddenly and stood still, looking at the bud. It started to move. Luminescent vines shot out of the top and bottom of the creature. The creatures were long gone; having fled the moment it started moving. The bud then opened up exposing that the whole creature was a giant flower. It was bright crimson in color, and little pollen stalks were standing in the middle of it. It was still for a moment, and then the pollen stalks slowly rose up to reveal a grotesque head. It was dark green and there seemed to be maroon veins pulsing underneath its skin. A mouth opened up revealing foot long needlelike teeth. It the sent a shriek up in the air that chilled Ranma to the bone. He was staring at this abomination with a look of revulsion and fear on his face. 'What the hell is that thing!' He screamed in his head. 'Worry about it later. It looks like it's about to attack.' But one of the strange creatures ran by heading for the trees. Apparently it forgot to run away early. Ranma grabbed it and brought it up to his face.

"What is that thing!" He yelled in its face. The thing smiled in his face and said in a deep reedy voice,

"Sectrum Mantra eat you now. Master will be most pleased. Gives us rewards. Lots of rewards." It then laughed in a high voice and Ranma threw it away. It ran to the trees in a vain attempt to escape, but was too slow. A glowing vine shot out and wrapped onto the creatures leg. There was a flash of sparks as the creature was immediately electrocuted and dragged to Sectrum Mantra. It lifted the creature up and tossed it in its gaping mouth. It chewed and crunched on the creature before swallowing it. It the let out a deep rumble that sounded a lot like a laugh. It then shrieked and shot its tentacles out toward Ranma who got out of the way just in time. 'If those tentacles touch me, I'm plant food!' He continued to dodge the vines, all the time making his way to Sectrum Mantra. When he got close enough he flew at the head in an attempt to decapitate it. But it immediately shut the bud closed, protecting its head while the vines continued their assault. It then gave another rumbling laugh. 'That is seriously starting to get on my nerves. How the hell am I supposed to kill it if I can't get to the head!' He looked at the plant closely, trying to figure out any weakness. Just when he was about to give up, he noticed that the bud was being supported in the air by a couple of non glowing vines. He immediately leapt toward the pale vines. As if sensing what he was about to do, Sectrum Mantra screamed again and all of the vines went shooting at him. He got there just in time. He quickly severed the vines holding it up. The whole plant fell to the ground with a sickening splat. The bud opened up revealing the head. Ranma dashed toward it as fast as he could before the plant had a chance to recover. The head tried to bite him, but he easily avoided the gnashing teeth and severed the head, finishing Sectrum Mantra off for good. The head thrashed around, screaming its death cry and spraying green liquid everywhere. It then exploded in a blast of purple vapor. The bud thrashed as well before it lay still, the dark vines still twitching. Ranma slowly got up slowly and looked at the mess. 'I…did…it…' He thought wearily. Except for a couple of scorch marks from the tentacles, he wasn't hurt too bad. Though avoiding vines all the time did become tiring. He then felt a vibration in his pocket. He took out the stone and saw that it was glowing. 'Here we go agaaaaiiiinnnn!' he thought as he got pulled into the stone once again. He was now one step closer to rescuing Akane, and destroying the Emperor for good.


	5. The Caves Of Hatred Part One

A Ranma ½ Fanfic: Nightmares of the Heart.

Written by Lucious Coulter.

Ranma ½ does not belong to me, but Rumiko Takahashi. Oh well…

A/N. Sorry it took so long. I had finals to do in school. Thanks for the comments, and don't hesitate to send advice. Heaven knows, I need it.

Chapter 4: The Caves Of Hatred. Part One.

Once again, Ranma found himself facedown on the floor. There was another note that was lying in front of him. 'How predictable. I hope you had some fun. I knew that you would be able to beat Sectrum Mantra. It wasn't difficult I trust. But that's the way fun goes! This is The Caves Of Hatred. The way out is at the center. Don't bore me!' The note once again burst into black flames. Ranma growled and clenched his fist. He hated being manipulated more than anything else in the world. 'That bastard will pay! No one controls me, and no one kidnaps Akane and then jokes about it!' He then took a look at his surroundings. He was in a large stone cavern. The only light came from torches along the wall. And the most prominent feature was that it was boiling hot. He could already feel sweat start to drip down the middle of his back. It was so hot, that he couldn't get up the energy to activate the soul of ice. He'd just have to endure it.

He saw a tunnel ahead and started to walk through the narrow passage. As he rounded a corner, he gave out a moan. There were five different paths going in different directions. He then realized that this just wasn't a cave. It was a labyrinth. He gritted his teeth. This was not helping his mission to save Akane, put he continued on. As he went through the caves, he found it difficult to concentrate on where he was going. He was getting seriously dehydrated and the heat disrupted his judgment. After a couple of hours, he came to another path division. Only this time there were three passages, and little green glowing orbs were floating in the air. One of the orbs came over and, to his surprise started speaking.

"Go to the left. That's the right way." It said in a high pitch whiney sort of voice. As he was about to thank the orb, another one came up and said,

"No! He's lying. The right way is the best choice!" It then let out a high pitch giggle and flew off. More and more came up and told him that the right way was either this way or that way, giggling and laughing all the while until he couldn't take it anymore.

"SHUT UP!" The orbs stopped talking and flew to a group near the far corner and started whispering. He only caught fragments of what they said, but it made him hate the little cretins even more.

"What a rude little brat…"

"Indeed. He doesn't deserve our help…"

"Let's send him in the wrong direction on purpose…"

"Yes! That will teach him manners…"

"Fool…"

"Child…"

"Freak…"

Ranma finally lost it and just went running down one of the tunnels away from the orbs giggling and gossiping. He then stopped to catch his breath. 'Idiot. Running in this heat was just plain stupid. But those things just made me so mad…' Ranma finally understood the meaning of The Caves Of Hatred. As he was breathing in and out, he noticed some light over his shoulder. He turned around and saw two orbs coming toward him. One orb was reddish orange and one was blue.

"Hello! Mr. Person man! Yoo-hoo! The red one came up to him and dimmed so he could see inside the orb. What he saw shocked him. It was a little woman about the size of his hand. She had on a short red dress and two golden bracelets on her right arm. She had spiky red hair pulled back in a ponytail, and fierce green eyes. She distinctly reminded him of Akane whenever she was in her 'I'm the best' mode.

"Hi! My names Tin! Who are you?" She asked loudly. He gazed back at her suspiciously.

"Ranma Saotome. What's it to you?" She put on a mock pout and said in a joking voice,

"Don't include us in that group of twits back there. Anyone can tell you that we are fairies and not Willo-the-wisps." He blinked. 'Fairies. Just perfect. I suppose the seven dwarfs will come around the corner any minute as well.' Out loud he said,

"What's the difference?" Her face got as red as her hair and he backed away from her.

"We are superior to those stupid little morons! We have grace and social class and more power and--"

"Tin, that's enough. We came to help. Not to scare the poor boy out of his wits."

Ranma turned to the blue orb which had now disintegrated to show another woman. She had a deep blue robe on and wore a sapphire ring on her left hand. Her long hair was a whitish blue color, and her eyes were the color of ice. She had a calm and cool state about her that felt like Kasumi and Nabiki mixed together. She stepped in front of Tin and addressed Ranma.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kel. Me and my partner Tin have been trying to get out of this cave ever since we were trapped here 250 years ago."

"I thought it was 249 years?" Tin said curiously. Kel sighed as if this sort of thing happened often.

"No Tin. 250 years. Anyway, we will help you to the center of the maze if you promise to help us escape from this place. Tin is fine in warm temperatures, but I am more partial to the snow." As she was speaking, Tin sat on Ranma's shoulder.

"We can be useful too!" Tin exclaimed energetically. "I have the ability to give you courage in the face of danger!"

"And I can create a barrier to deflect most attacks." Kel said calmly.

"So whaddya say!"

Ranma tried to take all of this in. Here were two so called 'fairies' that wanted to travel with him. They would help him out of here if he helped them escape. It sounded like a fine plan. One thing nagged him though.

"Why did you choose me to be your helper? There must have been other people that have come through here."

"Oh yes! Tons!" Said Tin without thinking. Kel put her head in her hands.

"Oops…" Tin said sheepishly. She fiddled with her thumbs nervously. Ranma raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to the other guys?" He said with a hint of warning in his voice. Tin eeped and stuttered over her words.

"Well no time to lose! We have to get out of here! Let's go! Hurry up!" Tin shouted enthusiastically. She started parading down the passage with Ranma following after her, Kel comfortably sitting on his shoulder. She chanted a few words, and a pitcher of ice cold water appeared. Ranma grabbed it a hurriedly swallowed it down. He muttered his thanks and another quick chant made the pitcher disappear.

"So why are you here Ranma?" Kel asked curiously. Ranma's eyes narrowed as he told the story of how Akane was kidnapped. Afterwards, Kel exhaled deeply.

"That's quite a story. It sounds like you care about this girl quite a lot" Ranma immediately started going on his usual ranting of who could like an unsexy tomboy like her anyway. Kel smiled a little bit and went on.

"But this dark lord, be careful around him Ranma. We of the fairy tribe have encountered him before. He loves to play games with peoples emotions and tells lies so extraordinarily that almost everyone believes them. Be careful when facing him." Tin, who had only paid attention to the first bit of conversation came over and started loudly proclaiming how Ranma was head over heals in love with Akane and if she could be invited to the wedding. Kel almost laughed as she watched Ranma chase Tin around, furiously declining everything she said. 'This will be an interesting journey indeed. I have a feeling he'll make a good friend.' She thought contently.


	6. The Caves Of Hatred Part Two

A Ranma ½ Fanfic: Nightmares of the Heart.

Written by Lucious Coulter.

Disclaimer: I, of course do not own this or I would be a very happy person.

A/N. Wow. It's been more than a year. But finally I am out of school and have all of my college work done. I have had a major writing block, but hopefully, I can get back into the gist of things. Please review, but no flames please. I appreciate advice, but no hate mail. It is pointless and does not solve any problems. If you're mad, scream into your pillow or something. Anyway, enough chit chat, on to the fic.

Chapter 5: The Caves of Hatred Part Two.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"How about now?"

"Tin…"

"Now?"

Kel sighed in annoyance and started to massage her head as if she had a migraine.

"For the last time Tin, we have done this many times before and you know the layout of this place, why don't you tell us if we're there yet?"

Tin smiled sweetly and answered,

"Because it's much more fun to watch you pretend to be cool and not angry. Ha ha!"

Kel's eyebrow twitched.

"That's it she's going to die." She said calmly and lunged at Tin. Ranma watched in amusement as Kel angrily chased a laughing Tin around the caverns. For the past few hours he had been walking a seemingly endless hallway of rock and soil, and it was refreshing to see something that reminded him of home. A little while earlier, they had stopped to rest, and surprisingly, while Kel could create water out of thin air, Tin could make some food. He was overjoyed at first, but it soon turned to anger as he realized that Tin had put Spicy pepper into his dish, which resulted in Ranma chasing Tin around again.

"Alright you two, knock it off. I need both of you if I'm going to survive down here."

They stopped their fight, Tin's hands trying to pry of Kel's, which were around her neck.

"Yeah Kel. Get a hold of yourself" Tin smirked as Kel glared at her but released her with a huff. It was only then that Ranma realized that there were more lights coming towards them. He recognized them as the sickly green ones that had insulted him before. Tin and Kel both immediately landed on Ranma's shoulders and glared at the lights.

"Ooh! Lookie lookie everyone! It's our favorite loser!"

The room surrounded with snickers and giggles as the lights flew around Ranma's head.

"Just ignore them Ranma. They lack the intelligence to do anything better with their time. Insignificant parasites." Kel whispered in his ear.

"I didn't understand half the words that Kel told you, but these guys are just a bunch of assholes. Don't listen to them." Tin said on the other side of him. Ranma sighed and used his spirit of ice. He then proceeded to walk down the hallway, the Will-o-wisps following after.

"Hee hee! Do you think he knows she's dead? 'Whispered' one of the wisps to another.

"No, I don't think so. Oh, poor dear, it would bweak his widdle heawt. Tee hee hee!"

"Think he knows that his quest is for nothing? What an idiot! He he he!"

"What an absolute fool! What an…. Uh oh!" The wisps immediately flew off. Ranma was really trying hard not to snap, when he realized that the voices stopped.

"Why did they run away?" He asked Kel in curiosity. She was silent for a moment and then pointed straight ahead. Ranma looked, and gulped. In front of them was a black door.

Akane woke up several hours later to find that her body was free from the crystal. She looked around and found herself sitting on a bed.

"Ah so sleeping beauty awakes!" Akane whirled around to see Orion standing there in the shadows, smile ever present on his face, half of which was hidden in darkness. Akane glared at him.

"S what now! Torture? Rape? Experiments? Because I tell you know if you touch me, I will beat the crap out of you!" She snarled at him. Orion smiled and made his way over to a chair and sat down.

"Your problem Akane is that you are incapable of understanding what is going on here. Yes the Emperor might have been a bit rough when he took you here, but it is all for the good of this world and yours." This was something new. Akane looked at him suspiciously.

"Just what exactly are you talking about?" Orion's smile faded a little, as if he thought of something painful, but then brightened up.

"You see Akane, here's the deal. As you know, your world of light and this world of twilight are in danger. Recently, there have been reports of portals ripping themselves open. You may not understand how dangerous this is, but imagine the twilight world all of a sudden opening up into an 11th century community in your world? There would be disastrous effects. Why do you think in your history there are so many ancient replicas of demons and monsters in art? Because for some reason the barriers that separated the worlds are starting to thin. That is why the Empire needs you Akane." Akane stared at him blankly for a few seconds and then whispered,

"Why me? What could I possibly do to prevent this? I...I'm no one special, just an ordinary high school girl." Orion sighed and answered her in a solemn voice.

"It is because you are the daughter of Earth, Akane. You are the only one who can help" If the Emperor can harness your power, he might be able to strengthen the barriers and prevent the worlds from colliding. Because when that happens……there will be nothing left." Akane stared at him as if he had rabbits popping out of his ears.

"Daughter of Earth?! Give me a break! There is no such thing as all of this mythology crap you're saying. And even if it were possible, it wouldn't be me. Earth is the symbol of the mother, and I am not very motherly. That would be Kasumi that you're thinking about. Not me." She ended in a sad tone of voice, and Orion wondered if this Kasumi person was Akane's mother.

"She's not my mother. She's my older sister. My mother died a long time ago." Orion stared at her in surprise and Akane looked surprised as well.

"How did you know what I was thinking Akane?" Orion asked with a small smirk on his face.

"I…I don't know, it was just like…I knew…and it rang out as if you were speaking in a normal tone of voice as well" She stared at him in wonder.

"Could it really be true?" She whispered to herself.

Orion got up and exited through the door. He knew she would need some time to think to herself. But she had better not take too long. 'After all,' Orion chuckled in his head. 'She will be meeting the Emperor in person in three days.'

Ranma and the fairies slowly approached the black door.

"Tell me girls, just what do you know about the thing on the other side of this door? Ranma asked quietly. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want to talk too loud.

"Well, all I know about it is its name. Coronus. As you can probably tell it uses fire as its primary weapon." Kel stated. Ranma waited for her to go on, but she didn't.

"Well? Don't you know anything else? Like what it looks like?" He asked desperately. He remembered the giant plant he had faced in the last area, and didn't want a surprise like that again.

"The reason we don't know, is because everyone has always either died, or chickened out by this point." Tin said in an obnoxious manner.

"Will you run away as well? Or will you fight with honor and pride," Tin said her voice seeming to swell with volume and body.

"You have come this far Ranma. Are you going to wimp out now and try to run home?! Or will you stand and fight to save the person that you came here to save?! An easier question would be, do you want to live? Or do you want to win?" Tin finished her pep talk and waited for his response. It didn't take long.

"I want to win." Grim determination was laced into every word as Ranma stepped forward and pushed at the door. The black gates slowly opened, and as they did, an incredible blast of hot air came toward them. Ranma braced himself for impact, but felt nothing. He opened his eyes to find Kel in front of him with her arms raised and a light blue barrier swirling around them.

"Don't worry Ranma. We got your back." Both Kel and Tin smiled and sat on either side of his shoulder as Ranma looked forward and stepped into the room.

The entire room was a large cavern like place, with bones and char marks littering the ground. Ranma stepped forward carefully and then saw something hanging from the wall. It was a man who was wrapped up in what looked like spider silk. He brushed his finger on the silk and quickly drew it back. There were blisters and burns covering his entire finger. Kel quickly touched the finger and the blisters went down.

"This isn't looking very promising." Kel stated.

"Aw leave it to me you guys! I'll punch its light out! I'll beat its brains in! I'll…"

At that moment there was a low rumbling growl from the ceiling, and something started to crawl down. It reached the ground and reared its head. It was the massive spider, Coronus. Its flesh pulsed with heat and its legs stomped holes in the ground as it came slowly toward the group. At this point, Tin was finished with her brave speech and was courageously hiding behind Ranma' head. Ranma looked at the thing with disgust just as he did before with the giant plant. Kel stared at the monster with determination set in her eyes and waited. Coronus stopped about 20 feet away and opened its one gargantuan eye and peered at them with yellow and red swirling in its depths. It then opened its mouth and hissed at them. It was soul wrenchingly evil, and its eyes shimmered with malice. Then, it attacked. It opened its mouth once again and sprayed a massive amount of silk at the group. Ranma easily dodged it, and leaped to the side of the behemoth. The silk quickly eroded through the floor, and molten metal started to flow from the spot where it hit.

"Maybe I can slide underneath it and attack its belly! That's where most things are vulnerable." Ranma stated, trying to form a battle strategy.

"No no no! You mustn't touch it!" Tin exclaimed in warning.

"Its surface body temperature it way too hot! You won't even be able to touch it without frying your hand off!" Tin yelled as they dodged another silk attack. By now, the entire floor was beginning to flood with molten metal, and Coronus was getting closer. They could see a large stinger protruding from its abdomen and was dripping with what seemed to be more molten metal.

"I can't h…hold the barrier anym…more!" Kel cried and the barrier fell, leaving them open to the brunt of the hot air emanating off of the metal. Both the fairies were exhauster, and Ranma could feel his shoes starting to bur, and that's when it came to him.

"The eye!! It's the eye!!!" And with that roaring battle cry, he leaped at the spider and punched lean through the eye. Coronus wailed and screamed, but the eye continued to leak the orange and red fluid from its eye. As it died, the ground and air began to cool, so the metal hardened and the temperature dropped. And with its final mewling and whimpering, Coronus burst into a black cloud and disappeared. And on the floor where it was, sat a black jewel. Ranma fell over exhausted ant squinted as the ceiling opened up to a beautiful blue sky.

Hey. Kel, Tin, the ceilings opened. You're finally free. Both of them awoke at once and sated at the sky. Tin had tears running down her face, and Kel had the warmest smile on.

"I almost forgot what the sky looked like…" Tin whispered through her tears.

"Over two centuries without seeing the sun." Kel said peacefully, then turned to look at Ranma.

"Nothing can ever express the amount of thanks I can express to you Ranma Saotome. You have given us our lives back, and for that, we are eternally grateful."

"Yeah, thanks Ranma, you're the coolest guy I've ever met!" Tin cheered and started doing a horrible impression of air ballet. Kel sweat dropped and sighed.

"Here Ranma, let me have a look at those burns." Ranma allowed her to smooth down all of the blisters and then looked at her.

"I just wanted to say thank you as well. Both of you. If you hadn't come along, I probably wouldn't have made it."

"Probably my ass! Admit it! You would have been absolutely helpless without us! Ha ha ha!" Ranma glared but then smirked.

"Sometimes Tin, you just remind me so much of a Will-o-wisp," Tin swelled with anger and started chasing him around until Kel called her over. The two sat whispering for a while, with a few pinches and punches here and there, and finally flew over to hover in front of Ranma's face.

"We have talked and negotiated…" Kel frowned as Tin whispered something that sounded suspiciously like 'negotiated my ass' and then continued.

"We will follow you through your journey and give our support where we can." Ranma stared at them and then broke into a wide grin.

"Great! I was hoping that I wouldn't have to wander around this madhouse alone! Thanks you guys!" Kel smiled while Tin blushed from the praise.

"Well then guys let's go save Akane!" And with Tin and Kel sitting on his shoulders, Ranma picked up the black jewel and vanished.

In the palace of dreams, the Emperor sat at his dark throne. A goblin like creature approached him.

"My lord, the boy that you 'invited' here has just destroyed Coronus. He is now heading for plains of sadness!" The Emperor looked down on the imp like creature and spoke in his chilling voice.

"Have you told anybody else about this?" the imp fervently shook its head.

"No master, I came straight to you!" The Emperor smiled.

"Excellent" and with a wave of his hand, the imp disintegrated into a pile of dust. The Emperor looked out upon his world thoughtfully. 'Perhaps this Ranma person really will make it to my palace.' A small smile appeared on his face. 'However, that does not mean I can't have a little fun in the meantime.' He quietly chuckled and the entire palace inhabitants shivered. They knew that He was up to something, and they wanted no part in it.

A/N.

Whew! I've got a major headache from looking at this bright white screen for nearly three hours. But that is beside the point because another chapter is complete. Hopefully I won't wait another year and a half to write the next one. Please read and review. I need your comments to encourage me and your 'constructive criticism' to help me make this story better. Hopefully you liked it. I think that the character I am most pleased with right now is Tin. I just had loads of fun writing her and her little squabbles with Kel. If you haven't guessed, Tin's favorite word is 'ass' so she will be saying it a lot. Don't ask me why, I just find that it suits her character. Anyway, till next time.

Sincerely,

Lucious Coulter.


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